Fix the Nixing
by ZootyCutie
Summary: Three Nixels find themselves...and their lives, permanently changed as they try to learn from the creative new world they are suddenly thrust into.
1. How We Got Here

Okay, so I've been making my own Mixel tribes lately, and I have five of them. One of them I feel that is of note is the Nix Fixers. They have an…interesting backstory that I wanted to make into a fanfiction. Mixels belongs to LEGO and Cartoon Network. I own the Steamerpuffs, the Auraras, the Shoutouts, the Nix Fixers, the Boombers, the Dustooners, the Medicans, the Mynders, and the Hashers.

* * *

When the lightbulb sun peaks over the horizon of Mixel Land…er, turns on…it's a new day for Mixel and Nixel alike. On the Mixel side of everything, it's chaos. But fun chaos! Alarms of every kind blaring. Brothers and sisters arguing about who gets to get ready first. Overly sweetened breakfast cereals shoveled down while seated in front of cartoons. Ruckus. But without it would be boring. It would be like…

…It would be like Nixel Land mornings. Major Nixel's army had the same routine every single day. Wake up from their identical bunks to a dull claxon horn. March to the mess hall. Breakfast is bland and gloopy oatmeal. Like it always is. No fruit or brown sugar. Because that stuff is "creative", which is of course, banned in Nixel culture. Early morning briefing is next. It's the same thing every day: collect the Cubits and bring them to the Major to destroy. And of course, every day it ended the same: tons of Nixels with footprints embedding their shells. Nixels with burn marks and electric discharge. Frozen Nixels, chewed on Nixels…just failure Nixels in complete pain. And it's the same thing every day. Of course, Major Nixel insisted that it would be different this time. But three Nixels felt a tiny bit doubtful…

They stood in the back of the briefing hall. Three brothers: one cat-eared, one square-topped, the third pointy-eared. Despite their young age (the square-topped one being just a kid), they were…loyal…but not really. One time, they were all three selected to go into three solo missions to collect Cubits. It ended with one with a Cragster footprint in his back, one with his head on fire (and his brain slightly scrambled as a result), and the third got a good zapping…but brought back a Cubit. And a Mix. While it was good for a laugh, it also meant latrine duty for the next month…which wasn't as much of a laugh. But it got them thinking.

About how much fun the Mixels seemed to be having. How THEY could do whatever they wanted. How THEY got to work together when they wanted to. It was splitting them apart from what they were taught and what they were seeing. MIXELS got to speak freely. (A Nixel speaking English that wasn't the Major? Must be thinking creatively!) MIXELS got to use every color of the rainbow (Black and white isn't even a true color scheme when you think of it…). MIXELS got to do this. MIXELS got to do that. MIXELS had the fun and everything they wanted. Nixels…Nixels were the Major's punching bag. Because the world wasn't how HE wanted it.

* * *

During this mission, Major Nixel carted his entire army into a weird mechanical cloud. Thanks to standing in the back, the three brothers didn't end up placed in some weird orb. Something referred to as the "Mega Nixel Mixel Nixer". It also meant none of them ended up as the "lucky" one to pedal the contraption to keep it afloat.

The youngest one, the square-topped one, just stared in a hazy daze at the entire thing. Like he had been doing for the past few months. After their major mission and after the creativity blitz, the eldest one, the cat-eared one, found a shocking blitz of inspiration. He secretly heard the whimpers his youngest brother shuddered with at nighttime. So, during one of their punishment details, he sneakily stole an old and faded rag that was at least still semi clean. With a few knots and stitches of black thread, he managed to make a simple knot doll. It wasn't much to look at, but to his brother, it meant a lot. And it meant a lot to Major Nixel as well…but not in a good way.

It was a sign of "creativity", and as soon as the Major caught wind of it, he confiscated it as soon as he laid eyes on it. Ever since that, the young Nixel went into an even worse haze.

And then the bomb went off.

* * *

The Nixels that were in the orb were soon launched out. A sudden explosion shocked the three…as the orb, along with the Nixels in it, disappeared in a haze of black and white, enveloping the Mix Fest below it, turning nearly all of the known Mixels into mindless zombies. As they stumbled around, Major Nixel and the remaining army piled out (with the three lagging behind). They then heard the Major cackle as he examined his work.

"I have nixed the Mixel Festival!" He cackled out, as the remainder of the swarm surrounded him. "Thank you, to some annoying and forgettable Nixels. This land is our land!"

* * *

During the chaos, the Nixels took over the party, making Vulk play droning ear-shattering music on his DJ turntable, breaking stuff, just being a complete annoyance. Save for three Nixels.

The trio hid away from the rest, just watching the chaos ensue. As the older two watch in confusion and shock (with the pointed-ear one twitching every so often from his melted brain), the youngest one attempted to drink from a now Nixified lemonade pitcher, slurping it up. The taste had dulled considerably thanks to the Nixel process, but it was still sweet and tart…flavors that were unknown in Nixel Land. It was at this lull from the three of them that the three of them heard their commander call out:

"Oh, no! Mixels?! ATTACK!"

Suddenly, the three found themselves swept up in a crowd of Nixels, running towards six Mixels that had managed to escape the bomb. As the youngest attempted to catch up, the swarm found themselves passing a cave, though the tail end of the swarm, including the trio, stopped and hid on top of it, listening on the conversation that the six Mixels were having. Something about heading to Mixel Mountain for a giant Rainbow Cubit? Either way, turns out the Nixels were going there, too…

* * *

Taking a shortcut that managed to get them to meet with the remainder of the Nixels and loop around the back of the mountain, the Nixels were able to form a barrier around the giant Cubit like a wall. While the remainder of the Nixels stayed firm, the trio felt a weird energy pulsing through them. It felt warm and cozy, nothing like they felt at their base. Before they could react, the six Mixels exploded from below the Cubit, sending Nixels and smaller Cubits everywhere. The trio landed unconscious a good distance away from the major scuffle, as a Rainbow Cubit embedded near them…and started to shift colors around.

When the dust settled, the six Mixels, the attacking Nixels, and the remaining Rainbow Cubits were gone. Mixel Mountain was back to its normal self, minus the giant Cubit, though a small Cubit ingot was starting to crystalize in its place. Finally, the three Nixels came to and dusted themselves off, noticing the Cubit a few inches away from them. Instead of the six colors, it was now settled on solid white and a grey that nearly bordered on black…yet still was intact, unlike the broken Nixelfied colors.

Something drew them to touch it. As soon as all three laid a pincer hand on it, it enveloped in a cloud of white light, once again knocking the three unconscious as even more energy surged through them.

* * *

"Uuugh…"

The eldest of the three, the cat-ear, slowly sat up, rubbing the back of his head. Wait, head? Why wasn't it part of his body anymore? In confusion, he looked at his hands. The black pincers were still there…but attached to long grey arms.

"What the-?!" He involuntarily shrieked out, and then covered his mouth. English words? But he never even ATTEMPTED those! In fear, he scrambled up ran off, crashing into two other figures. Two Mixels that were doing the same as him.

But…something felt off. The two of them…they were black and white, too. One had squares topping his head. The other had two pointy ears. It suddenly dawned on the three of them at the exact same time.

The three of them were no longer Nixels.


	2. Turn to Face the Strange

What happened next could be considered five minutes of unadulterated fear and panic. The three Nixels-turned-Mixels yelled at the top of their lungs and ran around in shock, staring at themselves, staring at each other. Just…staring and screaming and running. Finally, one of them stopped.

"Wait a minute." The smallest one said, screeching to a stop. He was the youngest Nixel of the three, as evidenced by the square-top that he kept. This sudden stop caused his older brothers to suddenly stop too…by means of slamming into each other.

"Why are you SO CALM?!" The middle brother, the pointy-eared one, yelled. His eye was still slightly twitching as he continued to pant in a mix of tiredness and hyperventilation.

"Because I'm trying to figure stuff out." The youngest one replied, looking himself over. Suddenly…an idea popped over him. He didn't know why…but something told him to try something. Just…an inkling in his mind.

So, a cooling energy pulsed through his hands as he suddenly GRABBED the air around him…and somehow pulled out what seemed like a black hole!

"What the?!" He said, in surprise, as the other two gaped in shock. Warily…he stuck his hand in. It didn't hurt, but it was an experience he had never felt. Suddenly, he touched something and slowly retracted his hand out. It was…a Cookironi?

"Nice." He said, contently eating it, while his older brothers continued to gape at him.

"H…how…?" The eldest one said, holding up a trembling finger.

"I dunno." The youngest shrugged, crumbs now on his face and his mouth still half-full. "Something just told me 'hey, bring a void into the area'."

Then, as he retracted the whole back into nothingness, an idea hit him.

"Void." He said. "I like the sound of that. Oh, but…make the 'I' a 'Y'. I'm Voyd!"

"You just…came up with a name for yourself?" The middle one asked.

"Yeah." Voyd shrugged. "I looked at my powers, and I based it around it. Pretty neat, right? Coming up with my own ideas?"

"Heh…kind of sounds fun…" The eldest admitted. "Hey, get me something to drink outta that thing."

"Sure." Voyd said, opening the black hole up again and pulling a soda out of it, tossing it towards him.

"Thanks." He said, chugging down the entire thing in a few noisy gulps, ending with a slightly loud burp. For fun, he crushed the can with his hands…but it crushed farther than he expected to.

"It's gone!" Voyd said, noticing that he practically made the can disappear.

"I still feel it, though?" The cat-eared Mixel said in confusion, and then shifted it around. From the front, it LOOKED like a crushed-up soda can, from the side, it looked like nothing.

"You practically destroyed that thing!" The pointy-eared one said in shock.

"Put the kibosh on it, didn't I?" The oldest said, chuckling a bit, but then came up with an idea. "Kibosh…I like it…but I think I like the 'I into Y' thing, too. I think I'll make that my thing, too."

"Okay, so we got Voyd. We got Kybosh." The middle one said, slightly cross. "What does that make ME, chopped gizvler?"

"Shut up and find your powers." Kybosh dryly said, tossing the can haphazardly, causing it to clang near his second-youngest brother, who freaked out, jumping out of the way…and straight onto Kybosh's shadow.

Somehow, he MERGED into the shadow, as if it was a hole, eventually entirely disappearing.

"H-he's gone!" Voyd said in shock.

"I KILLED HIM!" Kybosh panicked.

"You didn't kill me!" An echoing voice said from seemingly out of nowhere. "I'm still here, you idiots!"

Soon, their brother gasped for air and popped his top half back up, as if he was diving up from a swimming pool.

"Neat, shadow walking!" Voyd said, walking over towards him, as he pulled himself entirely out.

"What can I say, I rise from the umber." He smugly said, and then it dawned on him. "Not bad there. Umber…that's…spelled with two u's, right…?"

"One." Voyd said.

"…Well I'm spelling it with two!" The newly-christened Umbur said.

"So…we gotta have a tribe name." Kybosh said. "And pick a leader, but that's obviously me."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Umbur angrily said. "Who says YOU get to be leader?"

"I'm the oldest." Kybosh smugly said.

"So that automatically makes you leader?!" Umbur argued back.

"Yeah, I'd say so." Kybosh retorted.

"Uh…guys?" Voyd nervously said, holding one of the new black-and-white Cubits. "Don't the Mixels normally have those…three-way mix things with one tribe? Aren't the leaders normally voiced by them?"

"Oh, yeah." Kybosh said, as he and Umbur walked towards their youngest brother. "What was it that was…Max?"

"…MIX!" The three said, as they all grabbed onto the Cubit. Soon, a pair of large gloves slapped the three of them together. "MAX!"

Soon, a large skunk was in their place. He then tried out his voice:

"Let's see…" He said, and then perked up. It was Kybosh's voice! "Ha! I was right! Let's see what this baby can do!"

He focused all his thoughts onto his abilities, straining all the way. He strained so hard that…he accidentally farted. But, instead of stink, a large cloud of smoke came around the area, entirely covering the area. He could see perfectly through it like it was never there, though! When the smoke cleared up, the three of them split up.

"That…was…AWESOME!" Kybosh said. "No wonder why those Mixels like that so much!"

"That total rush of energy!" Umbur said. "I could get used to this!"

"WHY would the King and Major want to deny us from this?!" Voyd wondered.

"Well, we'll just have to fix that Nixel-based thinking, right?" Kybosh suggested.

"Fix…nix…" Voyd pondered, and then his eyes lit up. "That's it! From today, we'll fix the damage that those Nixels did to us! We'll be…the Nix Fixers!"

"YEAH!" All three said at the same time…and then stopped.

"So…where do we live now?" Umbur said. "We can't go back there."

"We…could live here?" Kybosh suggested. "There's that weird cave system in Mixel Mountain. That's not inhabited, so why not?"

* * *

Turns out, the "why not" was because the cave system was entirely dark. The only beads of light came from the face to shine sunlight into the caves…but only the entrance.

"I can't see a thing in here." Kybosh's voice stumbled with. "Voyd, can you make some light sources?"

"Oh. Sure." Voyd said, pulling out his black hole. Because he was thinking light, without his accord, large torches suddenly flung out of the hole and bolted themselves onto the walls.

"…What." Umbur said, ridiculously deadpan.

"I…just thought light?" Voyd said, just as confused, and then he beamed. "This thing is giving me what we need! We can make this place entirely our own with it!"

* * *

Soon, they ran towards all of the separate openings of the cave's interior…and boy, did they work! They figured out where certain rooms would be, and the black hole spat out all the needed things for it, pumping electricity and plumbing whenever they needed it. A bathroom there, a kitchen there. And THEN they got to build the fun things: their own bedrooms.

Nixel Land didn't have special bedrooms, thanks to the Nixels just sleeping on hard and cold multi-tiered bunks. But now, they got to sleep in their own rooms, with their own things and personal touches. Of course, the black hole spit out the standard beds, dressers stocked with clothing, and shelves, but each of them got their own…personal touch.

The hole read onto Kybosh's personality and made his sheets bright red and stocked his shelves with tons and tons of books (further speculation showed most of them were bad romance novels, but we'll let him have that). Umbur's personality gave him sheets that were so neon green that they almost hurt the eyes and gave him tons of distracting video game systems. Finally…Voyd's room. His gave him light blue sheets with a lot of stuffed animals all around the room…but one special one waited for him on his bed.

"H…he's back…" Voyd choked, eyes wet with tears.

There, sitting on his bed, with a stitched-up frown…was Ragamuffin: the doll that Voyd thought he would never see.

* * *

The rest of that day seemed to go by in moments for the three of them. Through having the biggest dinner they could think of (courtesy of their newly-stocked kitchen, filled with all kinds of foods they had never tried before), the three of them practically ate until they burst. So, when the sun went down, they were all three wiped.

After sorting through their drawers for their new pajamas (instead of just taking off their old hard shells, making them touch the cold bunks even more), the three of them tucked into their bunks for the best sleep of their lives.

And they'd need it: they had new friends they'd have to try and make tomorrow.


	3. Fire, Fire, Burns Much Brighter

For the first time in their entire lives, the Nix Fixers found themselves waking up to the feel of the lightbulb sun spreading light beams into their faces, rather than the sounds of droning horns blasting them up extra-early. They managed to have a breakfast of champions, rather than a breakfast of that random gloop Frau Nixel kept continuing to shovel at them. For the first time, they were actually enjoying their lives, rather than having it forced to them by a dictator.

* * *

By the time their breakfast had finished digesting (after a good round of cartoons they had never even heard of before); the trio was trekking down the cliffs of Mixel Mountain, trying to find any sources of population. If they wanted to be full-fledged Mixels, they'd have to learn how to mix and mingle with the new tribes, both figuratively and literally in their cases.

"So, who's on our list to meet first?" Voyd asked, as Kybosh looked at the list that he had scrawled out from memory.

"Let's see…looks like the first tribe is the…"Infernites"."

As if instinct, Umbur's already-twitchy eye started to twitch even harder and heavier. Of course, his brothers took note of this.

"Dude, you okay?" Kybosh asked in confusion, though the slight hint of worry could be heard creeping in his voice.

"Y-yeah, fine!" Umbur shakily said, obviously lying. "Who's saying I'm not fine, I'm cool! GET OFF MY BACK!"

"Okay…" Kybosh sighed, as the three continued downwards to their location.

* * *

Eventually, the air grew hot as the temperature sweltered to heavy degrees. Even though the lightbulb sun was the same as it had been when they started their journey, the pools of lava that covered the area made it feel like it was multiplied tenfold. No doubt about it, they were in the Magma Wastelands.

"Welp, looks like this is the place." Kybosh said. "Now to scout out the locals, how hard can that be?"

"Hm, well let's see." Umbur said, his voice dripping with heavy sarcasm. "I guess we look for the color red? Oh, wait, everything is red here! Guess we're a lost cause! Good job team, let's pack it up and go to the next location!"

As soon as he said this, he swiftly did a 180 in his motions and started to walk out of the habitat.

"Stop." Kybosh dryly said, holding a hand out in front of his younger brother, making him bump into it with his chest. "The only way we can truly become Mixels is to mix and mingle with the actual ones, you get that?"

"And the first key is to actually find them!" Voyd chimed in. "Only question is where they actually are."

As if to place the answer, a red blur sped past the three Nix Fixers, kicking up dust and smoke, while leaving a heavy black scorch mark on the ground like a map line. As the three of them coughed while the dust settled, they saw the markings on the ground and started to follow them, Kybosh dragging Umbur towards the location.

* * *

In the distance, the three newcomers could hazily make out the bright red forms of the three Infernite brothers that lived in this stretch of the Wastelands. As Kybosh continued to drag his brother along, Umbur started to protest.

"Welp, there they are." He started, his voice dryer than the heat of the environment. "Shall we just pack it up and pack it in now?"

"Oh, grow up." Kybosh sighed, and then called over to the Infernites. "Hey, you guys over there!"

"Way to make a kind entrance." Voyd sighed, as the three of them ran over to the Infernites, Umbur still being dragged by the heels.

"Hey, dudes!" The fire-topped Infernite called back, as he and his brothers started running over to the Nix Fixers, meeting them halfway. "Never seen you guys around these parts."

"I don't think we've ever seen you guys…at all?" The cat-like one with firey paws said, sounding a gentle mix of curious and nervousness.

"Trust me, you have." Umbur muttered under his breath, while Kybosh elbowed him in the gut to shut him up.

"We're up from Mixel Mountain." Kybosh explained, fudging the truth slightly. "We just…haven't come down here really, is all?"

"Oh, you guys live up there?" The leader said. "Hey, sorry about using you guys' Cubit up there, was kind of an emergency."

"No harm done." Voyd said. "It's growing back pretty good right now."

"So, cutting this fancy talk, who are you guys?" The dark red one that had ran past them asked, a bit snarkily.

"Well," Kybosh started, introducing them. "I'm Kybosh. This is Voyd, and this is Umbur."

"We're the Nix Fixers!" Voyd added, grinning.

"And we were just leaving-" Umbur started, as Kybosh shoved his hand over his mouth.

"You guys are the Infernites, right?" Kybosh asked, trying to divert attention away to his brother that was now protesting in screaming mumbles, finally succumbing to licking Kybosh's palm to make him flinch soon enough and remove his hand.

"Guess our reputation precedes us!" The speedy one smugly said.

"Ignore him." The flame-crested one sighed. "Yep, that's us. I'm Flain, that's Vulk, and that annoyance is Zorch."

"Hi…" Vulk shyly waved, while Zorch just stuck out his tongue in the general direction of his older brother.

"COOL!" Umbur suddenly yelled, sounding like his irritation was being masked by false happiness. "Glad we got that situation settled! NOW, AS I WAS SAYING-"

"Your brother's kind of loud…" Vulk sheepishly said to Voyd, as Kybosh practically tackled his middle brother into the ground, trying to get him to shut up.

"Yeah, he's like that." Voyd casually said. "Normally not this badly, though. It's weird."

"DECLARE DEFEAT, YOU IDIOT!" Kybosh screamed, attempting to pin the still-protesting Umbur down.

"NEVER!" Umbur yelled, as he grabbed onto Kybosh's arm, rolling over and into Voyd's shadow, where he sunk down, as Kybosh merely slammed his head into the ground.

"…And he does that." Voyd pointed out, to the shocked, confused, and somewhat concerned fire Mixels. Well, Flain and Vulk were concerned. Zorch found the whole thing hilarious and was failing at keeping a straight face.

"Get…out…" Kybosh muttered, his face still pressed against the warm lava stone ground of the wastelands.

"Only if we leave!" The echoed voice of Umbur retorted.

"It's obvious he doesn't like us…" Vulk sighed, sounding a bit guilty.

"Well, what's to like about you?" Zorch grinned, as Flain smacked the maroon speedster in the arm.

"Shut it, dude!" Flain warned, as Umbur finally rose from his younger brother's shadow.

"Cool." Umbur dryly said. "Now, as I was saying-"

Before Umbur could finish saying what he was planning on saying, the infernal repeated ringing of one certain word repeated spread over the horizon. The word any Mixel dreads to hear…

"NIX! NIX! NIX! NIX! NIX!"

A shadow of black and white on the horizon could only mean one thing: Nixels.

"NOT THEM!" Flain and Kybosh yelled at the same time.

"We don't have any Cubits for your tribe!" Vulk said, starting to panic.

"I—I think I have something!" Voyd said, opening up one of his portal holes, as a black and red Cubit launched out of it suddenly. "Someone catch it!"

"GOT IT!" Two voiced called out, as Vulk caught it…and so did Umbur.

"Oh, no…" Umbur shuddered, as he stared at both the Cubit and the glowing-red fingers of Vulk…and all those memories flashed back…

* * *

_Find an Infernite Cubit. That's all the assignment was. Easy beanpeasy lemlime squeezy, right? Just a measly Cubit from a measly Mixel. Sure, the climate was much hotter than he'd prefer compared to Nixel Land, and maybe it was a lot redder than his eyes were used to, but it was a simple task to get through. He just had to find a Cubit._

_And, then and there, as if it was calling him, was the Cubit. Bright red and maroon, just sitting there on a rock formation, one that was surprisingly well-sculpted. Almost like it was a table. Sure, there were a few other things on that table as well, but the Cubit was the number-one thing! Running over to the Cubit and triumphantly grabbing it, he suddenly noticed the things that were on that rock, which really was more table-like than he though. _

_A Lavanut shell with a straw and tropical lava drink in it. A magazine. A towel. And right next to that…was a lava hot tub. And in that lava hot tub…was a cycloptic Infernite Mixel with burning red hands, who saw that Nixel grabbing onto that Cubit._

"_No! Bad Nixel!" The Mixel said, grabbing onto the top of the Nixel, as he felt the scorch of the Infernite's hands piercing through his shell between his ears, as the Mixel wound up and threw him off, his head still burning and his mind scrambling and scrambling more and more by the minute._

* * *

What snapped Umbur out of that memory was the sudden transformation of the Cubit, which suddenly had him in a bumper car out of his control that was slamming into one that Vulk was in…

"MIX!"

It's as if Umbur said it out of a habit that he didn't even realize, as the strange feeling that came over him during forming the Max came over him as well. It was brief, and as the dust settled…a proper Mix was in their place.

With a large round eye, a red head with Umbur's black cheek marks, ears, and mouth, Umbur's long neck, Vulk's jaw forming a collar on Umbur's now-squat body, Vulk's fingers on Umbur's hands, and Vulk's toes on Umbur's feet, he was a perfect cross between Infernite and Nix Fixer.

"Solid Mix." Kybosh said, sounding honestly impressed.

"W—what do I do?!" The Mix said, in Umbur's shaky voice, still bemused and panicked.

"I guess whatever?" Voyd suggested, as the chanting of "Nix" came closer and closer, as the Nixel horde came mere feet away from the two tribes.

"Do…something?!" The Mix freaked out, shutting his eye and thrusting his hands away from him, towards the Nixels, hoping something would happen.

And thankfully something did. Black flames grew from the hands of the Mix, as they branched off into smaller and smaller flames, which caused the Nixels to stop in their tracks. Soon, the flames were spreading away from the hands, acting on their own as floating will 'o wisps, as each flame found a Nixel to follow. Sparking at them, the flames kept chasing at the Nixels, no matter where they ran, eventually chasing them away from the location of the Mixels, as the Mix defused into both Mixels again.

"You did it!" Vulk happily said, ignoring personal space and shyness and hugging onto Umbur in excitement.

"I…I did it?" Umbur said in confusion, with a hint of excitement creeping into his voice. "But you did it, too!"

"You guys were awesome!" Flain called out. "What a Mix!"

"Congrats, little bro!" Kybosh called out. "I knew you had it in ya! And you've earned your reward, now we can leave!"

"Aww, so soon?" Vulk said, letting go of Umbur.

"We got other tribes to meet." Kybosh explained. "There's a whole Mixel world that we were stuck away from in the mountains. Any suggestions on which tribe we can swing by the closest from here?"

"Well, keep going north and you'll reach the Mines." Flain said, trying to visualize the direction in his mind, causing his flame to flicker a bit higher."

"Cool!" Kybosh said. "Thanks for the tip, catch you guys later!"

As the Infernites and Nix Fixers called out their goodbyes, the three black-and-white Mixels could still faintly hear the voice of Flain call out to them.

"Tell the Cragsters I said hi!" He yelled out, as Voyd suddenly slowed down behind his brothers.

"Wait…" He gulped. "Did he just say…Cragsters?"


	4. Rumblin' Ground Down Below

Soon, the Nix Fixers were shuffling off to the Mines. As the arid air started to grow cooler, the environment started to change as well. The harsh reds of the Magma Wastelands were starting to shift into lush greens of prairies in the space between the two habitats. Tall pipe trees brimming with crisp and bright coconapples sprouted high, allowing for shady spots thanks to the lightbulb sun still in the sky. Happy sunflowers, their faces beaming with gigantic closed-eyes smiles decorated the land. Mountains of gears and bolts were far off in the horizon. Everything was bright and lush…quite the opposite of Nixel Land.

Even still, Voyd was avoiding it all. He was a few feet away from his brothers, huddled up in fear and looking downwards. No longer did he seem like the sanest and most serious member of the tribe for his age. Now, he seemed exactly like his age: a small and fragile child. Obviously, this was something that Kybosh could easily take note on.

"Voyd, you okay?" Kybosh called back to him, as the three continued walking, while the air grew slightly cooler thanks to being near the Mines.

"…Whatever…" His tiny voice replied, not even facing his brother, as he continued to mask his face, which seemed to be glistening with tears at the moment.

Turning away from the youngest of the trio, the Nix Fixers trekked on, as the grays and golds of the Mines started to come into view. But Voyd continued to huddle down, refusing to take in a single bit of it.

* * *

_It was his first mission all by himself. Sure, he had done other missions like the other Nixels, but he had always done them in groups. Being an actually-born Nixel over one of the millions that filled out the clone hoards meant one specific thing for this little guy: he was young. He wasn't created at the blurred age that all the other Nixels were, he was actually a child. Sure, there was the prince of the Nixels that was also born instead of being cloned, but he actually HAD family. He had a mom and a dad that had servants take care of him, while this young child that was stripped away from his family was drafted years before acceptable in Mixel eyes. But in Nixel eyes, he was considered as indistinguishable as the rest, albeit slightly smaller._

_In the Mines, it was almost like the blacks and whites of Nixel Land were blurred to a gray happy medium. Not as colorful as other areas, but it still had its charm. Flecks of shiny gold were also embedded nearly everywhere. It was so sparkly, so shiny, so…distracting. So naturally, the Nixel attempted to grab at it, just to see what it was. Sure, he was supposed to be grabbing Cubits instead, but one little detour for one tiny golden ore couldn't hurt, right?_

_Turns out, it could, and it did. That little Nixel got his gold, all right…by having small fragments of it embedded into the back of his shell by the mighty force of a Cragster footprint. He couldn't tell if the Cragster just didn't see him, or saw him on purpose and decided to make him pay for being a Nixel in an area that Nixels weren't wanted, but as he slipped into darkness for a while right near the hole that he had dug all by himself to get to the Mines, he could hear something about "help in the Mountain City" and saw that gigantic pair of buck teeth in that stomper's mouth…and that's all he could remember, but remember it he did and would._

* * *

"-is Voyd…Voyd? Voyd? Earth to Voyd?"

The voice of his eldest brother snapped Voyd out of his trance. Through his distraction, he didn't even realize that they had made it into the Mines and had already been introduced to the locals. Looking around, it was just as Voyd remembered it: the cool air of the surrounding rocks was a vast contrast to the Magma Wastelands. The plain greys flecked with those tempting golds. By now looking at those metallic pieces were making Voyd's back start to ache, even if he had no shell that bore the cracked footprint anymore. And, furthermore, there were three new grey, black, and gold figures greeting the Nix Fixers.

One was smaller with a rocky complexion and gold sprouting out the top of his head like a crown. Another was very tall, with only one eye, sharp horns, and a mouth guard (Voyd could swear Kybosh looked a bit apprehensive around him). And then there was the third one. The leader. Short and stocky, with one gigantic arm that made his other one seem microscopic in comparison. And a grin that showed off two gigantic buck teeth.

Voyd, being at a loss for words, did the only thing he could think of. He cried. And cried and cried and cried. The bottle he was attempting to shove all of his emotions into had broken, and the contents were exploding out everywhere, shocking both the newfound Mixels and the remainder Nix Fixers.

It wasn't just a normal cry from him, too. Kybosh knew his though-to-be-silent sobs from when they were still in the platoon. He knew the tears of joy that he cried when Ragamuffin was returned to him. No, this seemed like a full blown meltdown. Shrieking like a siren, this miniature Mixel was near-impossible to get near, from the flailing to the tears to the aura of uncomfortableness he was giving off.

"I'm…really sorry about this." Kybosh apologized to the Mine citizens. "I don't know why he's acting like this.

"I do." Umbur muttered under his breath, a smug grin growing, though he was wise enough to hide it from his eldest brother and the rocky Mixels.

"He's really not like this that often, you guys!" Kybosh continued to apologize, as he struggled to comfort Voyd, but every advance he tried only got rewarded with a flailing smack.

"Me try something!" The big-armed Cragster happily offered, as he suddenly broke free from the other two and suddenly lifted the still-screaming Voyd up with his larger hand, rocking him up and down in a futile attempt to calm him down, as Voyd's sobs only rose and lowered in pitch and decibel depending on the location.

"This isn't working." Umbur sighed, facepalming, as the yells continued.

"It's okay!" The Cragster said, attempting to soothe the Nix Fixer. "Big brother Krader is here!"

"Krader, please." The boulder-like one sighed, trying to hide his viewpoint in a facepalm, as if he was suffering from second-hand embarrassment.

"You making this worse." The taller bull-like one sighed almost the same way as the younger one, also trying to mask any embarrassment.

"Shuff, Seismo, please." Krader said. "Me got this! Kybosh and Umbur think me do, right you two?"

"Oh, sure!" Umbur grinned, sarcasm oozing through his voice so thick that it could be spread on toast. "Everything under control, man!"

"See, YOUR brother thinks so!" Krader happily said to Kybosh, who was reduced to facepalming as well. Sure, the Cragsters may have had the elements of rocks, but did that mean their heads were filled with them, too?

"Krader." Kybosh sighed, trying to form his words as tactfully as possible, while his youngest brother continued to scream like a banshee. "I don't think that this is the best way to-"

"NIX, NIX, NIX!"

As if on cue, the return of that monotonic and monochromic chanting spread through the lands. Once again, the dull horde were attacking. At this point, it was near-impossible to tell if it was a brand new one, or the same exact one from the Magma Wastelands, too risk taking to once again realize they'd be destroyed.

"ACK!" Umbur flinched. "Cubit, Voyd, Cubit!"

As if he was entirely ignoring his brother, Voyd continued to wail and scream at varying decibels, while Krader continued to try and rock him up and down, still ignorant of the situation.

"Me got one!" Shuff suddenly called out, pulling out a leftover Rainbow Cubit from the Mix Fest. He ran over towards the two Nix Fixers…and promptly tripped over a pebble so tiny and buried so much in the ground that it made it look like he was tripping over nothing.

As Shuff landed flat on his face, the Cubit soared through the air, circling around…and promptly landed in Krader's outstretched giant hand. Voyd, still blinded by the tears and still flailing his arms, smacked his hand down in a muscle memory move…right on the Cubit. Before anyone could assess the situation, the mechanism was in motion, as a gigantic jackhammer burst out of the Cubit, pulverizing the two of them to pixels and scattering them into one.

"MIX!" Their two voices called out, though it almost sounded like Voyd was saying it out of compulsion, rather than actually wanting to.

In an instant, a Mix of Voyd and Krader was formed. He sported Voyd's body with Krader's head on top of it, only wrapped with Voyd's cowl-like design. On top of him were two of Krader's grey and gold decorations, with Voyd's ear capping off the last decoration. Krader's legs sprouted to Voyd's feet, with gold decorations on the sides. Both arms were Krader's, with Voyd's hand replacing Krader's big fingers. To top it all off, his mouth showed off Krader's gigantic buck teeth, only pointed at the ends like Voyd's fangs.

"We did it!" The Mix said, in Krader's voice, as the hoard of Nixels started to gain on the Mixels, causing the non-Mixed members to back away from them and behind the Mix.

"Um, now would be a good time to see whatever your powers are!" Kybosh nervously said, as the Mix cracked his fingers.

"SLAM!" The Mix yelled, punching down onto the ground with his large-armed hand.

The tremoring echo shook as the Nixels continued to race forward, chanting all the way. Just as the Nixels were about to reach the group of Mixels, a harsh cracking noise was heard, as the ground jutted open in a large crevice, swallowing up the Nixels and plopping them underground, piling them all back into the underground lair of Nixel Land. As if on cue, the ground clapped back together, practically cementing itself back to normal, not even showing a sliver of its shattering.

In a flash, the Mix soon dissipated, returning Krader and Voyd back to normal. Voyd was no longer crying, but was now clinging onto Krader's arm, his eyes still somewhat red from crying.

"You okay?" Krader asked the little Nix Fixer.

"Y-yeah." Voyd shakily said in relief. He seemed drained, but at the same time, at peace, as if the funk of the previous moments had left him.

"You did good out there." Krader said to Voyd, as he cocked his head in confusion.

"But…you were the lead of the Mix?" Voyd asked in confusion. "I did nothing and I was an emotional wreck."

"Mix can't work with one." Krader explained. "Me no do it by myself. You help me with your powers, me help you with yours."

"That was just like me and Vulk." Umbur said. "I didn't see Vulk when I was controlling that Mix, but I felt his presence guiding me on what to do, even if he didn't know what would happen."

"I really don't get this Mixing yet." Voyd said, shakily climbing off of Krader's arm. "We really didn't get to do it back home."

"Up on Mixel Mountain?" Seismo asked. "You all alone there."

"…Sure, that's exactly where I mean." Voyd fudged.

"Whoa, look at the time!" Kybosh suddenly blurted, trying to divert the conversation. "We'll never make it to the last location before dark unless we start heading out! Sorry to cut this short, but we're still missing out on another tribe."

"Oh, other tribe?" Krader asked, as the Nix Fixers nodded. "Me know shortcut!"

* * *

Soon, all three of them were by a hole that was dug in the ground and seemed to go on for miles.

"Me made shortcut!" Krader happily said. "Takes you to Mountain City!"

"Cool, thanks!" Umbur said, jumping into the hole.

"Thanks, Krader!" Voyd happily said, crawling into the hole. "See you around sometime!"

"Oh, yeah!" Krader said, as if something caught his mind before Kybosh went into the hole. "Say hi to Electroids for me!"

"Sure thing Krader, will d-" Kybosh started, and then automatically halted. "Wait, you said Electroids?"

Before Kybosh could react, a slight push had sent him down the hole towards the Mountain City, as his own personal hell prepped in his mind.


End file.
